Col du Noyer
The Col du Noyer is situated in Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur. This climb belongs to the Alps. The Col du Noyer via Le Noyer is ranked number 966 of the Alps. The climb is ranked number 582 in France and number 2642 in the world. Starting from Le Noyer, the Col du Noyer ascent is 7.5 kilometers long. Over this distance, you climb 616 meters in height. The average percentage thus is 8.2 percent. The maximum slope is 10 percent.
Col du Noyer is a beautiful, medium difficulty, climb in the Hautes Alpes starting beside the Route Napoléon (there is a refuge Napoléon at the summit).
It has appeared 4 times in the Tour de France (’70, ’71, ’82,’10), as well as the 2013 and 2016 Critérium du Dauphiné.
The more beautiful east side starts easily enough, but one can see the unlikely last stretch high in the distance – drool. It’s a wide single lane but perfectly surfaced on the top half of both sides – perhaps due to the 2010 Tour de France visit.
Above Le Noyer, things get fun. A long cliff stretch and then the very difficult last 2.5 kilometers. Uneven percentages, certainly some long stretches at 12-13 percent.
Just below the summit are some magnificent hairpins.
The Dauphine will climb this magnificent east side (the first couple of kilometers are different than my route, but they will pass through Le Noyer). After a fairly non-technical descent, the stage will climb three kilometers to the ski station at Superdévoluy.
It’s a wide, fairly easy ramp, with grade generally in the 5-6 percent range.
Before I climbed to Superdévoluy, I first rode a superb loop that visited Col du Festre and Col de Rioupes. Nothing too steep, but lovely, quiet roads with high mountains in every direction.
The Hautes-Alpes department has done a wonderful job not only adding cycling kilometer signs to big climbs but also marking routes. Much of my loop was an official route, very well signposted including markers every kilometer, even on the non-climb parts.
